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I'm thinking about giving my 16 year old niece a Kurt Vonnegut book for her birthday today, but I'm not sure which one. I'm leaning towards either Sirens of Titan or Cat's Cradle. What do goons recommend I do?
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Oct 2, 2010 17:13
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I'm looking for a sci-fi book or series that focuses heavily on character development/aliens/culture. I don't want any books about war or similar, I'm only interested in alien culture stuff. ALSO, if anyone knows of any good fiction books that have to do with the restaurant business, I'd love to read them. I have lots of nonfiction food-centric books already, but I really want to read some fiction.
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Oct 3, 2010 03:15
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Gene Wolfe is the only respectable sci-fi and you can pick any of his book series but New Sun is the one most people read and it's really fantastic. It's got all that characterization and culture you're interested in. Instead of the influences you usually see like Dick or Heinlein or Tolkien he gives Borges and Nabokov. Instead of doorstop epic fantasy he writes essentially literary stories that just happen to have a sci-fi setting. It's the antithesis to everything terrible about sci-fi/fantasy. Fiction cooking? I'm told Bourdain wrote a couple novels.
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Oct 3, 2010 07:57
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Magikarpal Tunnel posted:I'm looking for a sci-fi book or series that focuses heavily on character development/aliens/culture. I don't want any books about war or similar, I'm only interested in alien culture stuff.
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Oct 3, 2010 13:38
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Magikarpal Tunnel posted:I'm looking for a sci-fi book or series that focuses heavily on character development/aliens/culture. I don't want any books about war or similar, I'm only interested in alien culture stuff. Its not fiction, but I highly recommend Orwell's Down and out in Paris & London, which details the times he spent working in restaurants in Paris.
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Oct 3, 2010 19:21
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I've just started commuting by train, so i'm after a couple of books. I think I want something a bit dark, and weirdly funny. Will self's short stories, chuck palahnuik (maybe less ott) kind of stuff. I like modern day books about things getting broken and a bit chaotic. Maybe a little specific, but if anyone knows of any that may fit the bill i'd much appreciate it 
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Oct 4, 2010 12:15
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cubicle gangster posted:I think I want something a bit dark, and weirdly funny. Will self's short stories, chuck palahnuik (maybe less ott) kind of stuff.
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Oct 4, 2010 17:48
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I'm looking for any kind of fiction set in or around Aztec / other ancient South American culture, either set in the past or retrospective. I'm hoping that's vague enough to encompass a few things!
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Oct 5, 2010 01:05
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IceNiner posted:Its not fiction, but I highly recommend Orwell's Down and out in Paris & London, which details the times he spent working in restaurants in Paris. I've been planning on picking that up, actually!
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Oct 5, 2010 02:38
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Jive One posted:Can anyone recommend a complete collection of Plato's Dialogues? Either a single respected translation or a mish-mash of translations?
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Oct 5, 2010 04:22
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Listen, I didn't face ten long tours against the goddamn 'bots to come back home and lift baby weights.
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Bobstar posted:I'm looking for any kind of fiction set in or around Aztec / other ancient South American culture, either set in the past or retrospective. I'm hoping that's vague enough to encompass a few things! I think I already suggested it in this thread for someone else but here you go: Aztec and the followup Aztec Autumn by Gary Jennings are both excellent.
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Oct 5, 2010 18:57
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Where should I start with Bukowski? Obviously he wrote a ton of stuff and I'm looking for a couple of books to get me going. Thanks
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Oct 6, 2010 03:50
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I have read tons of fantasy, but I'm looking to start reading some sci-fi. What would be some good series to start with? Something like the Tolkien or GRRM of sci-fi maybe (rape and space lemon cakes a plus)?
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Oct 6, 2010 07:26
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Valkyn posted:I have read tons of fantasy, but I'm looking to start reading some sci-fi. The Stars My Destination and The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One.
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Oct 6, 2010 13:17
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Where should I start with Bukowski? Obviously he wrote a ton of stuff and I'm looking for a couple of books to get me going. Thanks Run With the Hunted is a good collection of his stuff, both poems and prose, and it covers pretty much his entire writing career.
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Oct 6, 2010 17:28
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Valkyn posted:I have read tons of fantasy, but I'm looking to start reading some sci-fi. Try Hyperion (and sequels) by Dan Simmons. It is totally awesome and not as cheesy and ridiculous as the covers make it seem. The first one is more Chaucer in space than Tolkien, though.
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Oct 6, 2010 21:24
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I'm looking for a sci-fi where you focus on developers, programming or the like. So a book where they are not scared of being technical about things. I've read an amazing triology called Infoquake by David Louis Edelman, anything like that i'd buy immediatly! More info: http://www.amazon.com/Infoquake-v-1-ebook/dp/B002D48O2C TangibleKnowledge fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Oct 7, 2010 |
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Oct 7, 2010 16:34
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TangibleKnowledge posted:I'm looking for a sci-fi where you focus on developers, programming or the like. You could try the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. It's sortof a weird mix of techno-geekery, 1980's spy thrillers, and Lovecraft (magic is real; it works via advanced mathematics/computers; there's a british spy agency staffed by geeks charged with keeping the magical poo poo under control). It's not wildly technical -- I could still read it as a nonprogrammer -- but it might appeal to programmers.
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Oct 7, 2010 17:06
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Hey guys, I'm on a bit of a history kick lately and I was thinking about how I know next to nothing about the Ottoman Empire. Anyone have any (non-fiction) suggestions? It doesn't have to be a general history or anything, I'll go for anything that is well-written.
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Oct 7, 2010 19:19
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Valkyn posted:I have read tons of fantasy, but I'm looking to start reading some sci-fi. This may be the obvious suggestion, but Frank Herbert's "Dune" is basically considered the LOTR of scifi. The first book's great, but I haven't reread any of the sequels since middle school, so I couldn't tell you much about them.
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Oct 7, 2010 19:22
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Hey guys, this is going to be kind of an obscure / obnoxious request, but here goes anyway. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some philosophy that may directly or indirectly address the problem of reconciling individual or selfish goals / passions / aspirations (e.g.: so-and-so loves x and wants to make a living doing x, where x is some trivial, inconsequential bullshit to everyone but so-and-so) with the obvious reality that the world has serious problems that, if recognized, need fixing and are seemingly of much greater importance than any individuals' plans. Essentially I have something I love doing and want to pursue but that simultaneously is worthless beyond what it does for me; I feel torn between the guilt of neglecting issues beyond myself and the desire to pursue something that I think will make me happy, so I need some perspective on figuring out how to figure this out rationally; I can convince myself of either path at this point. So, in short: a what-the-hell-should-I-do book that has to be good philosophy as well and not some new-age pop reading feel good stuff.
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Oct 8, 2010 01:10
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kgibson posted:Hey guys, this is going to be kind of an obscure / obnoxious request, but here goes anyway. Just read all of Hegel, and the other German Idealists. Their essential dichotomy is between the ideal and the real, and how ideals become embodied in the material world through misguided wills, and how history is the reconciliation of these ideals, which in themselves become ideals. You could also read Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, which is becoming "rediscovered," as the ideal of "moral" capitalism. e: Just know that Hegel is very upfront about how depressing his theory is. It's strange that Hegel's idealist dialectic is the depressing one, and Marx's materialist dialectic is the one that provides hope, probably because it's political, and thus holds out the idea of change. 7 y.o. bitch fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 06:32
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ONE TWO THREE TIMES TWO TO THE SIX/JONESING FOR YOUR FIX OF THAT LIMP BIZKIT MIX
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kgibson posted:Hey guys, this is going to be kind of an obscure / obnoxious request, but here goes anyway. This can be broken down to your personal values, or moral. You want to know if what you're doing is acceptable in a moral, or ethical, view. There are three ways to go about getting that answer (actually four, but I can't recommend the new age feel good stuff): First, get a closer look at philosophy in general. For this, Sophie's World by Jostein Garder should be ok. Fernando Savater wrote another light introduction, Ética para Amador (Ethics for Amador). The next option is to consider one of the basic schools of ethics, deontological ethics', main concepts: the categorical imperative: Immanuel Kant posted:"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." This is not socialist ideology, and can be found in many varieties in conservative, socialist, liberal states. The third way is to just maximize the good of the World by maximizing your own good (good meaning capital, joy, happiness, good health, wellbeing or whatever is good for you). This is the second large school in ethics, utilitarianism, and has a lot of important thought to it but often ends up in being a giant excuse for not taking care of people or events outside your inner circle. It's connected to a lot of economical theory since it was shaped by some of the founding fathers of Capitalism and has some bizarre faces such as the idea of the Trickle-down effect: if I maximize my wealth, even for the disadvantage of everyone I meet, I maximize my own good and then everybody will benefit when I spend my money. This way, everybody is happier even if they were initially exploited since I'm a better capitalist than they are and hence better at amassing wealth (=Good stuff) that will trickle down when I divide this wealth by spending or investing. I would recommend one of the above books. Then ask yourself if you have a moral obligation to not forget about others. I think I have, but of course I don't spend all my time playing savior. Alternatively, you might find it acceptable to maximize the good or even the joy in your life but I doubt we'll meet in Heaven after that edit: beaten by 7 yob, dammit. But I bet you want a good introduction rather than some Hegelian dialectics. rasser fucked around with this message at 07:23 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 06:38
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I need a good introduction on Hegelian dialectics for non-philosophers. No comic books please, 100-200 pages and in plain language that will take me through the concepts that are self-referring, or using jargon I'm not trained in. Another chance for 7 yob to steamroll me. I will lecture you on hematology if you wish
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Oct 8, 2010 07:27
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rasser posted:edit: beaten by 7 yob, dammit. But I bet you want a good introduction rather than some Hegelian dialectics. Don't worry, dog, I'm doing a presentation tomorrow on Shakespeare's idea of the poet/madman versus the rational actor, so I have Hegel and Kant and Schlegel floating all in my mind right now. But if you want an introduction to Hegel, get a "Collected Works of Hegel" from one of the Classics libraries like Penguin or Oxford UP or Modern Library, and buy whichever edition has the better scholar writing the introduction. Usually the introduction for that sort of undertaking will be around 50 pages, so good enough to situate you so that when you read Hegel (which, if you want to know about Hegel's philosophy, is really the only option), you're not completely misreading him, yet without being so totalizing that you feel you don't need to read him or that you're biased when you do. Plus, any worthwhile book on Hegel specifically is going to be academic in nature. No reason to read long summaries of his work when you can just read short ones with the main ideas, and then find really interesting and surprising bits of wisdom and connections when you actually read him. I mean, Hegel is, in my opinion, the preeminent philosopher of the modern period, so I would always suggest direct reading of him over summary. 7 y.o. bitch fucked around with this message at 07:45 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 07:43
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7 y.o. bitch posted:the preeminent philosopher of the modern period = why I want to know more. Thanks for info!
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Oct 8, 2010 07:52
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rasser posted:= why I want to know more. Thanks for info! Wow, so I'm looking on Amazon right now, and there is almost nothing that the major Classics libraries offer (Penguin has the Lectures on Aesthetics, which if you want to explore that area, de Man's "Aesthetic Ideology" isn't the worst place to start [especially since it has a great intro by one of my professors, Andrzej Warminski, who also wrote an important book on Hegel; and Oxford has the Philosophy of Right]). For kgibson, the Philosophy of Right (although Phenomenology of Spirit is really the one concerning the soul) might be a great place to start, actually, since it is more "practically" oriented than his other works, since it deals with society, politics, and morals more explicitly than his works on the philosophy of history. But each of his four books, and his aesthetic lectures, are necessary in their own right. e: Haha, it would cost over $130 to get all of them on Amazon. e2: These two books look like they could be good: German Philosophy 1760-1860: The Legacy of Idealism http://www.amazon.com/German-Philosophy-1760-1860-Legacy-Idealism/dp/0521663814/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b and Introduction to German Philosophy: From Kant to Habermas http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-...ader_0745625711 7 y.o. bitch fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 08:18
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7 y.o. bitch posted:Introduction to German Philosophy: From Kant to Habermas is now on my shopping list. Thanks again!
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Oct 8, 2010 10:11
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ultrachrist posted:Hey guys, I'm on a bit of a history kick lately and I was thinking about how I know next to nothing about the Ottoman Empire. Anyone have any (non-fiction) suggestions? It doesn't have to be a general history or anything, I'll go for anything that is well-written.
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Oct 8, 2010 13:33
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Thanks guys, really helpful stuff and definitely plenty there to get me going. I appreciate it!
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Oct 8, 2010 16:17
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Could anyone recommend a book about the DuPont family's history? I'm not really looking for a book about their migration to the States and their company, but more interested in something about the family members themselves and the lifestyle of a family with that kind of wealth and power. They've had a few bad apples over the years, so I suppose I'm looking to read up on whatever personal dirt is available. Most resources I've found on the internet touching on the DuPonts in particular are too tangled up and muddled by speculations based on nothing but urban legends, and I'd really rather read something non-fiction if it exists. I'm not closed off to books about the other substantial families in the United States (Rockefellers, etc). I only mentioned the DuPonts in particular because they're pretty well established in the area I live.
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Oct 9, 2010 23:36
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I was here a bit ago and got some good recommendations for historical books on organized crime (I have 'Tough Jews' and 'The Outfit' on the way-thanks!) now I thought I would put the call out for any good Mafia fiction written relatively recently (like late 70s/80s to present-the more recent I'd be interested in) and yes, I've already read Puzo.
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Oct 10, 2010 01:21
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IceNiner posted:I was here a bit ago and got some good recommendations for historical books on organized crime (I have 'Tough Jews' and 'The Outfit' on the way-thanks!) now I thought I would put the call out for any good Mafia fiction written relatively recently (like late 70s/80s to present-the more recent I'd be interested in) and yes, I've already read Puzo.
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Oct 10, 2010 07:40
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schoenfelder posted:If fictionalized is okay, take a look at Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. It's the story of Henry Hill, an affiliate of the Lucchese family in NYC in the 70s/80s(?). Scorsese's "Goodfellas" is also based on this. I read the book a few years ago and remember it as quite good. Casino (also by Pileggi and was the basis for the Scorsese movie of the same name) is a good read as well.
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Oct 10, 2010 15:56
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:Where should I start with Bukowski? Obviously he wrote a ton of stuff and I'm looking for a couple of books to get me going. Thanks The first book of his I read was Post Office, and it was a pretty succinct introduction to what he was about. If you followed that up with Ham on Rye, I think that could be a cool way of doing it. You'd start out thinking he's an absolute prick, then finish up knowing why he's an absolute prick.
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Oct 10, 2010 15:57
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igby posted:he's an absolute prick. ... Is all I remember from Ham on Rye, besides my intention never to read Bukowski again. Nevertheless, a lot of people revommend exactly this one so I might just have bad taste - have a go
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Oct 10, 2010 19:01
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I've read the last five or so pages figuring this has been asked, but I didn't see anything, so I'm sorry if this has been an obnoxious question this month. I want to hold a Halloween party where we read short stories around a fire. I am most interested in your answer to this question: If you were going to a party like that, what kind of short story would you bring to read to other people? I don't usually read horror, and I don't usually read short stories, so I'm kind of lost on my own. I'm secondarily interested in specific recommendations for short stories that have the same atmosphere as Neil Gaiman's Coraline. I'd like to have at least a couple of these on hand, because it appeals to the telling-a-creepy-story-around-a-fire vibe, but it's not really offputting to people like my sister, who probably wouldn't stand for something too demented or violent or whatever. I mean, if what you'd bring to my party is Clive Barker's The Midnight Meat Train, definitely say so! But I'd also like to hear of some stories that appeal to a wider spectrum of readers. (Also: I'm excited to have something to do on Halloween for the first time since I was a kid!)
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Oct 10, 2010 20:41
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You should read various Goosebumps books.
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Oct 10, 2010 22:43
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vlack posted:I've read the last five or so pages figuring this has been asked, but I didn't see anything, so I'm sorry if this has been an obnoxious question this month. I used to have this audiobook on tape until an unfortunate fire in a storage unit destroyed it: http://www.amazon.com/Scary-Stories-Tell-Alvin-Schwartz/dp/0898457580/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1286746702&sr=1-2-fkmr0 If you are lucky, your library might have a copy (mine was a dupe made from a library copy) and it looks like you can get the sequel on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/More-Scary-Stories-Tell-Dark/dp/1559942843/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286746702&sr=1-1-fkmr0 the first one is definitely slumber party-worthy fun. Just what it sounds like you're looking for, somewhat scary/creepy, but still can appeal to a wider, non-hardcore horror fan audience. I don't think I've listened to the second one but if its as good as the first you will probably enjoy plus save yourself the burden of reading the stories. I'd check for this title on sites other than amazon if necessary.
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Oct 10, 2010 22:45
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Recommendations for travel writing/travelogues about China please? I'm thinking of reading Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar and Jan Wong's Beijing Confidential but was wondering what other good stuff there is. I'm more interested in modern China, especially Beijing and Shanghai (because I went there last year).
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Oct 11, 2010 06:05
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